Combination instantantaneous and delay fuse



Juily H, W3. H. M. BRAYTON COMBINATION INSTANTANEOUS AND DELAY FUSE Filed Nov. 12, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet l Hare/d [4. Bray fan w/ TNESS July 113, 1943.. BRAYTON 232,12

COMBINATION INSTANTANEOUS AND DELAY FUSE Filed-Nov. 12, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jufly 13 1943.. H. M. BRAY ON fi l COMBINATION INSTANTANEOUS AND DELAY FUSE Filed NOV. 12, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented July 13, 1943 UNHTED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBINATION IN STANTANEOUS AND DELAY FUSE Harold M. Brayton, Dover, N. J., assignor to American Armament Corporation, New York 4 Claims The invention relates to a combination instantaneous and delay fuse of the general type disclosed in my U. S. Patent No. 1,672,150 of June 5, 1928, and it aims to so improve upon the prior construction as to provide for greater safety and for greater efiiciency.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, description being accomplished by reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section through one form of the fuse.

Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 are transverse sectional views on the correspondingly numbered line of Fig. 1.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing a more slender fuse for use with projectiles having longer ogives.

Figures '7 and 8 are transverse sectional views on the correspondingly numbered lines of Fig. 6.

The form of construction shown in Figs. 1 to 5 will first be described.

The fuse oody comprises a main one-piece front section 19 having a tapered nose II, and a cupiike rear section 12 threaded upon the rear end of said section is, a slight space l3 being preferably left between the front extremity of said section 52 and the adjacent portion of said section Ill.

The rear section i2 is to be threaded into the front end of a conventional projectile l4, and the front section ii] is provided with an appro priate flange E5 to abut said projectile. A suitable container 16 is threaded upon the rear end of the section 12 or otherwise connected therewith to contain a booster charge H, and a rotor 18 is pivotally mounted in the body section l2 to contain a conventional detonator I9, said rotor being normally held in unarmed position by centrifugally released pins 20. At 2|, I have shown a socket in the front side of the rotor I8 said socket being disposed axially of the fuse when the rotor is in unarmed position (Fig. 2). While a corresponding socket was essential in the old patent above mentioned, to permit set-back of the firing pin when firing the projectile, the rotor l8 cf the improved construction may well be devoid of such a recess if desired, as positive provision is made for holding both the instantaneousaction firing pin and the delayed-action firing pin which are now used, against set-back.

The rear end of the body section I0 is formed with a centrally disposed cylindrical socket 22 which opens through the rear extremity of said section Hi, the rear end of said socket, however,

being provided with a suitably secured closure plate or ring 23 which abuts a plate 24 within the body section i2, said plate 24 serving to retain the rotor 18 in its receiving recess 25. The front end of the socket 221 is provided with an integral rearwardlly projecting boss 26 which is centrally disposed. This boss is snugly received in the front portion of a, fixed sleeve 27 which is disposedwithin and spaced from the side wall of the socket 22, the rear end of said fixed sleeve 2'! being in solid contact with the plate or ring 23. The boss 26, no equivalent of which was present in the old patent above mentioned, positively holds the front end of the fixed sleeve 2'! centered and thus overcomes any liability of parts hereinafter described binding instead of freely sliding,

A piston-like delayed-action firing pin 28 is sli'dably mounted in the fixed sleeve 21 and is provided at its rear end with rearwardly projecting firing prongs 29. A suitable spring 3!] acts rearwardly upon the firing pin 28 but is normally held against action by impact released means now to be described.

The periphery of the firing pin 28 is formed with a groove 3| whichnormally registers with openings 32 extending from the inner to the outer side of the fixed sleeve 27, said groove and openings normally receiving a plurality of balls 33. ihese balls are heldnormally in place by an outer slidabl'e sleeve 34 which surrounds the fixed sleeve 2 and slidably contacts with the side wall of the socket 22 and with said fixed sleeve, said slidable' sleeve 34 being normally held in a rearward position by a suitable spring 35. Forward movement of this sleeve 34 is normally prevented by c'entrifugally released pins 38. After these pins have been released by rotation of the projecti e during flight, the sleeve 34 is free to slide forwardly by momentum when the projectile is suddenly dec'elerated, for example, when the impact of striking a target occurs. This forward sliding of the sleeve 34 releases the balls 33 and they may fl-y outwardly by centrifugal force into an internal channel 31 in said sleeve, thus releasing the firing pin 28 in readiness for rearward movement to cause the prongs 29 to fire the detonator Hi, this detonator having been previously set at armed position by means of the centrifugally moved rotor l8, upon release of the pins 23. The rearward movement of the firing pin 28 will not occur immediately when the projectile strikes the target, but on the contrary said pin 2% will remain forward, holding the spring 38 compressed as long as the forward inertia force due to retardation of the projectile equals the strength of the spring 30. Whenever this resistance has decreased sufficiently, however, the spring 3 operates the firing pin 28 to fire the detonator. Thus, the fuse will not explode when set for delay action until the projectile has passed through the target or come to rest in it, i. e., until practically all resistance to penetration has ceased.

The balls 33 and associated parts prevent setback of the delay-action firing pin 28 when the projectile is fired and, therefore, even if the rotor l8 should have been assembled in armed position, the detonator l9 cannot be accidentally fired which was not true of the old patented construction.

An instantaneous-action firing pin 33 is provided at its front end with a striker 39 suitably secured at 40 to said firing pin, said striker being mounted directly in a longitudinal bore 4| in the nose portion ll of the fuse body, instead of in a separate tube as in the old structure. The front portion 42 of the firing pin 38 is of greater diameter than the remainder of said firing pin, and it will be seen from Fig. 1 that the rear portion of said firing pin extends slidably through a central bore 43 in the delay-action firing pin 28. At the juncture of the two diameters of the firing pin 38, there is a rearwardly facing shoulder M. Normally this shoulder nearly abuts a centrifugally released pin 45 slidable in the body section II] and thus the entire firing pin is held against set-back when firing the projectile from the gun, again insuring that the detonator shall not be fired even though the rotor [8 may have been assembled accidentally in armed position. No equivalent of the separate instantaneousaction firing pin 38 and the associated centrifugally released pin 45 were present in the patented structure above mentioned.

A suitable portion of the firing pin 38 and an adjacent portion of the body section It] are formed with screw threads or the like 56 and M which may be engaged by rotation of the striker 39 and said firing pin, when the fuse is to be set for delayed action, preventing the firing pin 38 from operating upon impact of the projectile with the target and leaving the firing under control of the delayed-action firing pin 28. When the threads or the like 46 and ll are disengaged,

however, the instantaneous-action firing pin 38 will operate as soon as the striker 39 contacts with the target, the pin 45 having been previously released by centrifugal force.

. In the more slender construction shown in Figs.

6 to 8, the rear section I2 of the fuse body is threaded into instead of onto the rear end of the front, section I, and it is this front section which is to be threaded into the projectile M The majority of the parts shown in these views are practically the same as corresponding parts above described, except with regard to size and proportion. There are certain changes, however, to which attention will be invited. The front end of the fixed sleeve 21 is centered by a boss 2t on a plate 26*, which plate is snugly fitted into the front end of the socket 22 instead of having a boss integral with the front wall of the socket as above described. The spring 35 for the slidable sleeve 34" is also disposed externally of said sleeve instead of internally thereof. The two firing pins 28 and 38 are associated in the same manner as the corresponding pins above described, the balls 33 hold 28 against rearward movement until released, and pin 4.5 holds 38 against rearward movement until released. Sleeve 3 3 is, of course, normally held against forward movement by centrifugally released pins 36*.

The rotor [8 is pivotally mounted in a recess 25 on a pivot pin 50 which is at right angles to the axis of the fuse, said rotor being normally held in unarmed position by centrifugally released lock pins 20*. The rotor is suitably overbalanced to cause it to move to armed position under the action of centrifugal force when the pins 2i] are released, a stop pin 5| extends across the recess 25 to limit the movement of the rotor to armed position, and a centrifugal lock pin 52 carried by said rotor, is employed to engage a socket 53 in a wall of the recess 25 (Fig. 8) to lock said rotor in armed position. The rotor carries a stab-type primer 54 and a detonator 55 to be fired by said primer, both primer and detonator being loaded with highly compressed sensitive explosive. Even should the sensitive elements explode with the rotor It in unarmed position, no disaster would occur, as the explosive elements 56 and 51 in rear of said rotor would not be disturbed in any way. These elements 56 and 51 are preferably of tetryl.

In both forms of the invention, it will be observed that no set-back of one firing pin or the other occurs when firing the projectile from a gun. Thus, neither firing pin can move into the socket 2! or into other engagement with the rotor to interfere with movement of the latter to armed position. The new association of slidably engaged firing pins operates better than the arrangement shown in the patented structure and there are only two springs required, there being no spring in the rear end of the sleeve 21, whereas a spring at this location in the patented mechanism was not only difiicult to construct of proper tension but often caused trouble. The spring 58 now employed for sliding the instantaneous-action firing pin forwardly, need only be of sufficient strength to prevent the action of air pressure against the striker 39 from sliding said striker and pin rearwardly, which was not true of the patented structure. To prevent the spring 58 from catching in the inner end of the socket 59 in which it is located, when turning the striker 39 to set the fuse for either delayed or instantaneous action, it is preferable to interpose a washer 60 between said spring and said inner end of socket 59.

In addition to advantages previously briefed for the improved structure, it is highly important to observe that as both firing pins are held against set-back when the projectile is being fired from a gun, there is no possibility whatever of either of said pins exploding said projectile in the gun barrel, even if it should have been possible to assemble the rotor ill or l8 in armed position. The improved structure thus possesses a much greater element of safety than the patented construction above mentioned. Moreover, the new structure has been found to possess greater strength with no danger of the fuse shearing off flush with the front end of the projectile when striking at low angles. Also the striker 39 is much more stably mounted and its mounting means will not be injured and rendered inefiective when striking at low angles, as was the case with the patented construction. Moreover, the new construction associated with the striker is much easier to manufacture and less expensive.

Excellent results have been obtained from the construction shown and described and it is, therefore, preferably followed. However, within the scope of the invention as claimed, minor variations may of course be made.

What is claimed is:

1. In a combination instantaneous and delayed-action fuse, a body having a central socket which opens through its rear end, a fixed sleeve in said socket and spaced from the side wall thereof, a transverse plate secured to the rear end of said body and abutting the rear end of said sleeve, said plate having a central opening and said sleeve being provided with openings from its inner to its outer side, a piston-like delayed-action firing pin slidable in said sleeve and having an axial bore, an instantaneous firing pin slidable in said bore and projecting rearwardly from said piston-like firing pin, the rear end of the latter having rearwardly projecting firing prongs spaced around said instantaneous-action firing pin, the periphery of said piston-like firing pin being provided with a groove registering with said openings of said sleeve, a spring in said socket for forcing said piston-like firing pin rearwardly, balls seated in said registering groove and openings and normally preventing rearward movement of said piston-like firing pin, an outer sleeve slidably surrounding said fixed sleeve and normally holding said balls in said openings thereof, said outer sleeve contacting slidably with the wall of said socket and being forwardly slidable to release said balls when the projectile is suddenly decelerated, and oentrifugally released means for normally holding said outer sleeve against forward movement.

2. In a combined instantaneous and delayedaction fuse, a body, an instantaneous-action firing pin slidably mounted longitudinally in said body and having a striker at its front end and a detonator-firing portion at its rear end, cooperable manually engageable pin-holding means on said body and firing pin for holding the latter against operation when desired, a separate delayed-action firing pin slidably mounted longitudinally in said body and having a detonatorfiring portion at its rear end, an operating spring in said body urging said delayed-action firing pin rearwardly, a oentrifugally released member movably mounted in said body and normally engaging said instantaneous-action firing pin to hold it against rearward movement, additional pinholding means movably mounted in said body and engaging said separate delayed-action firing pin to normally hold it against rearward movement, said additional pin-holding means including a momental member mounted in said body for movement to a forward position in which it effects release of said delayed-action firing pin, a second oentrifugally-released member mounted in said body and normally abutting said momental member to hold it against forward movement, and yieldable means in said body exerting a rearward force on said mombntal member to prevent forward movement of the latter until said body is suddenly decelerated.

3. In a combined instantaneous and delayedaction fuse, a body, an instantaneous-action firing pin slidably mounted longitudinally in said body and having a striker at its front end and a detonator-firing portion at its rear end, cooperable manually engageable pin-holding means on said body and firing pin for holding the latter against operation when desired, a separate delayed-action firing pin mounted slidably in said body and slidably surrounding said instantaneous-action firing pin, said separate delayedaotion firing pin having a detonator-firing portion at its rear end, an operating spring in said body urging said delayed-action firing pin rearwardly, a oentrifugally released member movably mounted in said body and normally engaging said instantaneous-action firing pin to hold it against rearward movement, additional pinholding means movably mounted in said body and engaging said separate delayed-action firing pin to normally hold it against rearward movement, said additional pin-holding means including a momental member mounted in said body for movement to a forward position in which it effects release of said delayed-action firing pin, a second oentrifugally released member mounted in said body and normally abutting said momental member to hold it against forward movement, and yieldable means in said body exerting a rearward force on said momental member to prevent forward movement of the latter until said body is suddenly decelerated.

4. In a combined instantaneous and delayedaction fuse, a body, an instantaneous-action firing pin slidably mounted longitudinally in said body and having a striker at its front end and a detonator-firing portion at its rear end, cooperable manually engageable pin-holding means on said body and firing pin for holding the latter against operation when desired, a separate delayed-action firing pin slidably surrounding said instantaneous-action firing pin, said separate delayed-action firing pin having a detonator-firing portion at its rear end, an operating spring in said body urging said delayed-action firing pin rearwardly, a oentrifugally released member movably mounted in said body and normally engaging said instantaneous-action firing pin to hold it against rearward movement, a fixed sleeve extending longitudinally within said body and slidably receiving said delayed-action firing pin, said fixed sleeve having an opening from its inner to its outer side, a ball in said opening engaged with said delayed-action firing pin to normally hold the latter against rearward movement, a momental sleeve slidably surrounding said fixed sleeve and normally occupying a rearward position in which it holds said ball engaged with said delayed-action firing pin, said momental sleeve being forwardly slidable to release said ball and thereby release said delayedaction firing pin, a second oentrifugally released member movably mounted in said body and normally abutting said momental sleeve to prevent forward movement thereof, and yieldable means in said body exerting a rearward force on said momental sleeve to prevent forward movement of the latter until said body is suddenly decelerated.

HAROLD M. BRAYTON. 

